The Only Spark
by coolmonsterfighter
Summary: AU. Set in the high school years.  Willow and Tara go to different schools, but meet one day in their neighborhood.  They discover that they have a lot in common and start spending time together.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Willow Rosenberg smiled as she walked outside and found herself greeted by the warm June sun. Walking to the library was always more pleasant when the weather was nice. Attached to the redhead's side was a tote bag filled with books. Willow did not just go to the library to check out a book or two. When this girl went to the library she came home with as many books as she could carry and she would devour them in no time at all. The librarians all knew her very well by now and seemed to be fascinated by her. Never before had they seen a 15-year-old girl who had so much interest in gaining knowledge.

Willow had become addicted to books back when she was nine years old. That's when her parents started taking business trips all the time, which meant they paid little attention to their daughter. They would leave her with babysitters, but they were always old and boring ones. Willow had to find entertainment on her own and books had provided her with more entertainment than she ever could have imagined.

The redhead took her usual route to the library, admiring how picture perfect her town looked under the bright sunlight. One house in particular caught her attention. She had seen it before, but this time was different. It was the standard suburban house with a white picket fence, but today there was a beautiful girl in a blue sundress sitting on the front step.

The girl's blonde hair was glistening underneath the radiant sun. The light hit the pale, creamy skin of her face just right so that every delicate feature was visible. Her deep, ocean blue eyes were intensely focused on the pages of the book in her hand.

Willow had never seen this girl before which seemed strange to her since they lived in the same neighborhood. She thought she would have at least seen her around school a few times, but she definitely had not. She would have remembered seeing this girl.

What really caught the redhead's attention was the book though. It was rare for her to see a girl her age reading books instead of spending time at the mall or gossiping with friends. Willow sauntered over to the mystery girl without even giving it a second thought. She just felt drawn to her.

"Hi, I'm Willow."

The blonde girl was so engaged in her book that she didn't even realize there was someone standing in front of her until she heard a voice. The unexpected voice startled her so much that she dropped her book in the grass.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Willow exclaimed before picking the book up from the ground and examining the cover. "I didn't mean to scare you. Really, I didn't. I was just passing by but then I saw you sitting here reading and I never see other girls my age reading for fun like I do so I just wanted to talk to you…." she babbled.

"It's okay," the girl spoke softly, giving the redhead a sweet half smile. "I was just surprised, that's all. I'm Tara, by the way. Tara Maclay."

"Through the Looking Glass," Willow read from the cover of the book before handing it back to its owner. "The sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Do you like it?"

Tara timidly nodded her head in response.

It felt so weird for her to actually engage in conversation with someone her age. Usually her peers just pretended she didn't exist because she was so shy and quiet. Often she felt lonely, though. One reason she had turned to reading books was because of her loneliness. Escaping into a fictional world allowed her to live vicariously through the characters of the book, leaving her loneliness behind for a few hours. Having a friend was what she wanted more than anything though. Books were great but they would never compare to having a great friendship. Someone you could talk to about anything no matter how silly or serious it was. Someone that would always be there for you. That was what Tara Maclay desired most.

"I love it," she finally spoke up. "It's fascinating. Have you read it before?"

Willow shook her head.

"No, I don't read novels very often. I spend most of my time reading nonfiction books. I love discovering new facts about, well, anything," she explained before showing her new acquaintance the contents of her bag.

Tara's eyes widened, shocked by how many books she saw.

"Wow," she said softly. "That's impressive.

Willow brightened when Tara complimented her. She was half expecting to be called a nerd or a freak or some other name. That's the only response she had ever gotten from the kids at school.

"Thanks," Willow said with a smile, taking a seat next to Tara on the step. "Hey, why haven't I seen you around school? Do you not go to Sunnydale High?"

Tara shook her head.

"No, my parents don't really like the idea of me going to public school. I go to the private school, St. Paul's," she explained. "I wish I could go to Sunnydale High though. I'm not a huge fan of my school."

"Trust me, Sunnydale High's not great either. I love learning so it's not the classes that I mind. It's the people. I'm not exactly the most popular girl in school," she admitted.

"Oh believe me, neither am I," Tara chimed in. "It's rare for anyone in my school to say a word to me unless they're asking me to move out of their way. I don't have many… well any friends."

Willow saw the sad look on the blonde's face and empathized with her. She felt the same way. Sure, the students at Sunnydale High talked to her but their harsh words were almost worse than no words at all. There was one group of girls in particular who had made it their life's mission to cut her down. She tried not to let it bother her but how could it not?

"I'll be your friend. I don't know you too well yet, but I think you seem pretty great. Anyone who enjoys books as much as I do automatically shoots to the top of my list of favorite people."

Tara giggled quietly at Willow's reasoning.

"I'd love to be your friend, Willow."

The redhead couldn't help but to grin from ear to ear. She was elated to have someone she could call her friend. She would finally have someone to spend time with other than those boring babysitters.

"So I was on my way to the library before we started talking. Do you want to go with me?" Willow asked hopefully.

She could only imagine how much fun it would be to go to the library with someone her age who also liked books. They would be able to recommend books to each other and maybe they could even read some of the same books and talk about them. Like a mini book club! Willow really liked that idea.

Tara nodded her head, smiling.

"Sure, that sounds great. I just have to check with my parents first. They're kind of strict. Wait here and I'll be right back," she told her new friend before scurrying inside.

A few moments later Tara returned, a wide smile on her face after gaining approval from her parents to go to the library. She had fibbed a bit and told them she was going with a girl from her school because if they knew she was going with a girl from Sunnydale High they definitely would have said no. Sometimes her parents were just unreasonable but she was starting to find ways around it.

"Shall we?" She asked.

"We shall," Willow replied as she began to lead the way to her second home, the library.

When the girls arrived there, Willow emptied the contents of her bag by placing each book, one by one, into the return slot. Feeling ten times lighter, she proceeded to enter the building with her new friend close behind her.

"What section do you wanna go to first?" She asked Tara.

"The fantasy section if you don't mind. Maybe I could pick a novel for you to read," she suggested. "I know you like your non-fiction, but there's some pretty amazing fantasy stuff out there too."

"Okay, " the redhead agreed. "I think that would be pretty cool actually."

Willow had been to the library countless times over the past several years so she knew exactly where every genre was located. When they reached it, the two girls wandered around the fantasy section together. Tara was searching for a good novel for Willow and Willow was simply observing her surroundings as usual.

In the lounge area, there was a display of artwork that caught Willow's attention. She walked over to the display, her gaze focused on one painting in particular. The black, purple, and blue paint swirled together in a way that created a very realistic looking galaxy with bright stars scattered everywhere. Willow was amazed that someone had actually created that from a blank canvas.

Once Tara managed to find what she thought was the perfect novel for her new friend, Willow was still staring at all the artwork.

"Whatcha looking at?" Tara asked softly as she approached the redhead from behind.

"Oh, I just saw this art over here and decided to take a look. This painting right here is amazing," she said while pointing at the painting of the galaxy.

Tara's eyes followed where Willow's finger was pointing and she instantly started blushing when she realized what her friend was admiring. That was her painting. Her art teacher had asked her about a month ago if it was okay to enter that painting in the local Young Artist's competition. Tara had given her consent, but she hadn't given it much though since then. Apparently she had done well.

Willow furrowed her brow when she realized how silent Tara was being. She turned around to look at her and saw the blonde's cheeks were flushed a vibrant shade of red.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Tara said, shaking her head. "It's just... that's my painting."

Willow's big green eyes widened to double their normal size. Talk about coincidences. She couldn't have been more shocked if Tara told her she was the Queen of England. She spun around to examine the painting again and sure enough, in the corner the initials T.M were written in small, neat cursive.

"Wow, Tara, I'm impressed. This painting is gorgeous! You're really talented."

By now the blonde's face was on fire. She wasn't used to receiving attention and compliments like this. She found it hard to believe that someone actually liked her work. Her parents had always told her that art was frivolous and silly. They preferred for her to focus on things that had more practical applications in life.

"Thank you. It means a lot. You really like it?" She asked, the surprise in her voice evident. "The only person who's ever complimented me before is my art teacher."

"I love it," Willow responded without missing a beat. "Seriously, it's absolutely mesmerizing. Your painting is the reason I even walked over here in the first place. I wanted to see it close up and then I couldn't look away."

The redhead realized how badly she was making the girl blush and decided to stop with the compliments.

"Okay, I'm done. I don't want your face to catch on fire or anything," she teased. "Then I'd be friendless again."

Tara giggled before holding the book in her hand up for Willow to see.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Willow read the cover.

Tara nodded.

"Yep. This is the book I picked out for you. I mean if you want to read it. You don't have to."

"I want to read it," Willow assured her friend. "If you're recommending it then I'm sure it's great."

She took the book from Tara's hand and placed it in her now empty bag of books. This bag always came with her to the library. There was no way she would be able to carry all the books she planned to check out in her arms.

"So when did you start painting?" Willow asked with peaked curiosity.

"Around third grade when we started working with paints in art class. I don't have any of my own supplies at home so I'm limited to painting in school only. I spend my study halls in the art room though which gives me some time to work on things."

"What made you want to paint the stars? Sorry for asking so many questions. Like I said before, I like finding out new information and I think you're interesting. Color me curious."

Tara found herself blushing again at being called interesting. That was the first time that adjective had been applied to her in her entire life. She usually thought of herself as plain and ordinary, not interesting.

"Well, I love the stars. They're beautiful. I sit in my bed every single night looking out the window and I just stare at them. I've always wanted to go on a camping trip just so I can lie there and look up at the stars all night until I fall asleep."

"That does sound nice," Willow admitted, imagining how peaceful something like that could be.

Suddenly a thought popped into her head.

"Let's have our own little camping trip. I have a tent in my basement. I'm sure we can figure out how to pitch it and then we can camp out in my backyard for the night. It'll be fun!"

Tara's face lit up at the idea of actually sleeping outside and stargazing. Sharing something like that with her new friend would make it even better.

"Really? That would be wonderful. I'll have to check with my parents to make sure it's okay but I don't think there will be a problem. When do you want to me to come over?"

"We could do it tomorrow night if you want. It's not like I have any other plans. My parents are out of town on business and the babysitter is probably the most boring person alive. Having you over will be a very welcome change."

Tara flashed Willow a huge smile.

"Tomorrow night sounds perfect."


	2. Chapter 2

Tara found Willow's house without a problem. It was a fairly large brick house right up the street from her place. She gently knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to open it. She didn't have to wait long because Willow rushed to the door as soon as she heard the knock.

"Hey! It's good to see you again," the redhead greeted her newest and only friend with a gleaming smile.

"It's good to see you too, Willow," Tara said in her soft, sweet voice. "Thanks for having me over."

"Not a problem. Come on in," Willow waved her inside the house. "So it's only like six. We still have some time before the sun goes down. Let's go outside and pitch the tent while it's still light out. Then we can jump on my trampoline!" She said excitedly, her emerald eyes glistening.

Tara gave Willow her signature half smile, happy to see how enthusiastic the redhead was about their sleepover.

"Sounds great," the blonde spoke softly before following Willow who was practically skipping out to her backyard.

Tara saw the tent lying in pieces on the grass and looked to Willow nervously.

"Uh, do you know how to pitch a tent? Because I definitely don't."

Willow nodded tentatively. "Yeah I know how to do it," she said with forced confidence in her voice. "Kinda... I mean I looked it up on the Internet last night," she finally admitted.

_She is so adorable. _Tara thought.

"Well you're really smart so I'm sure it won't be a problem. Just tell me what you wanted me to do and I'll help out as much as I can."

Half an hour later the tent was fully constructed and both girls were immensely pleased with it.

"It looks good," Tara commented.

Willow nodded, in full agreement with her friend.

"We make a great team," the redhead asserted, gazing at Tara with a goofy grin on her face.

_How did I become friends with this gorgeous girl? _She wondered to herself.

"We do make quite the pair, don't we?" The blonde agreed, looking over at Willow.

She blushed and diverted her gaze when her sapphire eyes momentarily locked with Willow's green ones. There was a moment of silence between them. Tara's face was flushed bright red and Willow was nervously fidgeting.

"Sooo, uh, wanna jump on the trampoline?" The redhead asked, feeling the need to break the silence between them.

"Sure," Tara replied shyly.

They walked across the yard together and when they reached the trampoline Willow did her much practiced jump-roll combo to get on top of it. Tara tried to hop on in one swift movement as well, but she wasn't having much luck.

"Need some help?" Willow asked, extending her hand out to the blonde.

Tara took the proffered hand, feeling a quick spark fly between them at the brief contact. Once she was safely on the trampoline she immediately released Willow's hand. That spark had terrified her. She had always felt herself gravitate towards women. She was just genuinely attracted to them. However, she felt as though that was something that her very strict, very Christian family would not approve of. She had never had feelings for anyone before that went beyond a simple attraction. The idea of having real feelings for someone scared her more than she could express.

"Thanks," she practically whispered as she got to her feet and began to bounce lightly on the trampoline.

Willow had other methods of jumping in mind though. Rather than bouncing up and down gently like Tara was doing, she jumped as high as she could. The redhead flew high into the air, but when she landed it was Tara's turn to shoot into the sky.

When the blonde landed, there was a horrified look on her face.

"Willow! That's scary! And very dangerous!"

Willow nervously chewed on her bottom lip, feeling awful for scaring Tara. She hadn't meant to though. She was so used to spending time on the trampoline that she hadn't even thought twice about it.

She sat down next to her upset friend and gently placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Tara, I'm really sorry. I don't know that would scare you or I wouldn't have done it," she apologized. "And besides, it's not _that_ dangerous," she said with a sinful smile.

"It's actually quite dangerous," Tara retorted, still shaken after being unexpectedly shot into the air.

"Tara, the trampoline is completely enclosed with netting," the redhead pointed out. "You wouldn't have fallen off. But I am very sorry for scaring you. Forgive me?"

The blonde turned her head to look Willow, their eyes locking once again, but this time she didn't look away,

"Of course I forgive you, but don't ever scare me like that again!" She exclaimed, playfully punching Willow's arm.

"Oh, so you're punching me? Who's the dangerous one now, Ms. Maclay?" Willow teased before beginning a tickle fight with her friend.

Tara couldn't stop giggling when Willow started tickling her. Not only was she giggling, but she also felt like butterflies were attacking her stomach because of her close proximity to the adorable redhead.

The blonde decided to counter Willow's tickling attack with an attack of her own. She flipped the two of them over so Willow was now the one lying on the trampoline and she was the one hovering over her, tickling her mercilessly.

Now it was Willow's turn to have a giggle fit. Little did Tara know, Willow also had butterflies swarming her stomach as a side effect of being touched by Tara.

"Stop! Stop! I surrender!" Willow shouted when she couldn't handle the tickling anymore.

Tara, however, was relentless. She continued tickling the girl for a few seconds longer.

"Say that Tara's the best," she told Willow with her usual crooked smile.

"Tara is the absolute best," Willow said quickly, breathing a sigh of relief when she was finally able to stop giggling.

"I'm not just saying that either," the redhead confessed once she had recovered from the playful attack. "You really are the best."

Tara blushed furiously once again, feeling as though her face would become permanently red if she continued spending time with Willow.

"You're pretty wonderful yourself."

Willow shook her head. "I'm nothing special."

"No, you are," Tara argued back adamantly.

Anyone that could make her feel all the things she had been feeling lately was pretty incredible in her book. Willow didn't argue back, she just sat there quietly enjoying the company of the amazing girl beside her and Tara did the same. No words needed to be spoken.

Soon after that the sky became dark and Willow noticed the stars were gradually becoming visible.

"You wait here for a minute. I'm going to get the sleeping bags so we can stargaze in the grass without getting all dirty. I'll be right back," she promised before hopping off the trampoline and sprinting into her house.

A few minutes later the redhead returned to the backyard, but Tara couldn't even see her face because she was carting around so many fluffy pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags

She leaped off the trampoline to help Willow carry some of the stuff.

"Thanks," Willow said with a nervous giggle, making her way over to the tent with Tara close behind her.

The two girls tossed everything they had been carrying onto the ground right in front of the tent before evenly dividing the pillows and blankets between themselves and making their "beds" for the night. They placed their sleeping bags right next to each other so they'd be able to chat easily during the stargazing.

"Well, this is nice," Tara said once the two of them were comfortable and the stars were starting to become visible.

"It is. I'm really glad we decided to do this. Do you know like constellations and stuff?" Willow asked curiously.

Tara couldn't help but to giggle at the question.

"I don't know the real constellations," she explained to a confused-looking Willow. "But when I was really little my mother would point out certain shapes to me while we were looking up at the stars. Like I call that one the Big Pineapple," she told her as she outlined those stars with her index finger.

Willow was very amused at this point. She had never thought to make up her own constellations. She liked the idea though.

"That one looks like a moose," she said, outlining the stars she was referring to.

A half smile broke out on Tara's face when Willow joined in. She was a little worried that Willow would think her constellations were dumb.

"It does look like a moose. It actually looks like the moose is getting a sponge bath."

Willow chuckled, but she couldn't deny it. It really did look like a moose in a sponge bath. She could hardly believe what a great time she was having just lying there reveling in the company of the girl next to her. From the moment she had first seen her she knew there was something more than just a desire for friendship drawing her to the blonde. The more time she spent with her though, the more she realized that she had a crush on Tara. She wasn't about to tell Tara that though. It would probably scare her off and there was no way she was going to scare off her first friend.

"You have a nice laugh," Tara murmured softly when Willow's laughter began to fade away.

The redhead couldn't stop the smile that was played across her lips.

"Thanks. No one's ever commented on my laugh before. You know what I like most about you?"

"What's that?" Tara asked curiously.

"The way you smile. It's not a regular smile. It always starts out as this little half smile, which is adorable. Then if something's really good, it turns into a full-blown smile but it always starts with the half smile."

"Wow. I never even knew that about myself. I thought my smile was normal. I shouldn't be surprised though. Not much about me is normal…" she trailed off, her thoughts wrapped up in things other than her smile now.

"Nope, you're not normal," Willow said matter-of-factly. "You're better than normal. You're extraordinary."

Tara reached over and placed her hand on top of Willow's, squeezing it gently. She felt she was being forward in doing so, but she couldn't help it. She felt a strong pull to the redhead and just wanted to have some kind of physical contact with her no matter how small.

Willow had to bite down on her lip to stop a squeal from her escaping her lips at the contact. There were butterflies fluttering around in her stomach and she felt like the blood running through her hand was laced with electricity. Touching Tara felt like some kind of drug and she couldn't get enough of it. She gave the blonde's hand a little squeeze back to let her know the contact was appreciated.

"Thanks," she said in an almost whisper.

"For what?" Tara asked curiously.

"Just for being here. And being you."


	3. Chapter 3

Willow woke up the next morning and smiled when she remembered how wonderful last night had been. She and Tara ended up drifting off to sleep under the stars while holding hands in a very comfortable silence. Willow couldn't remember a night she had enjoyed so much since… well, ever. There was something so great about spending time with Tara. It seemed a little weird to her though, having a crush on a girl. Lesbian relationships weren't something you saw too often in Sunnydale. She was pretty sure it wasn't something her parents would approve of, but it's not like they were around often enough to ever even find out about it.

The redhead peered over at the blonde next to her, smiling when she saw her eyes were open.

"Good morning," Tara said softly.

"Morning. Did you have nice dreams?" Willow asked as she began rolling up her sleeping bag.

"I had this amazing dream where I was laying under the stars and this adorable redhead was with me and we were holding hands," the blonde answered shyly.

Willow giggled.

"That wasn't a dream, silly. That was real."

She locked eyes with Tara for a moment before reaching out and giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Last night was great. I can't remember the last time I had that much fun. I really like spending time with you, Tara."

The blonde felt her cheeks flush at the compliment.

"I like spending time with you too, Willow. You're the best. I should probably get home though or my parents will worry."

"Right. Of course," Willow nodded. "Do you maybe want to hang out later? Or tomorrow?"

She didn't want to seem pushy or anything but she felt like she _needed_ to be around Tara. Even when they weren't together the blonde was on her mind.

"I don't think my parents are going to let me hang out again today as much as I'd love to. I'll call you tonight though if that's okay," Tara said, her now familiar half smile playing across her lips.

"I'd love that. Do you want me to walk you home?" She asked.

Tara hesitated.

She did want to maximize her time with Willow and a walk would be nice, but she didn't want to risk her parents seeing her new friend. They would want to meet her and she knew her father wouldn't allow her to see the redhead anymore once he found out she went to public school. For some reason he thought the world would come to an end if Tara fraternized with people outside of her little private Catholic school.

"I don't know if that's the best idea," she replied softly.

She saw Willow's face fall in disappointment and instantly felt terrible.

"It's not that I don't want you to," she explained. "I would really like you to walk me home, but I'm just worried that my parents will see you and want to meet you. My father can be a little… crazy. I don't want you to have to deal with him."

"You don't think your parents would like me?" Willow asked meekly.

Tara sighed and enveloped Willow's hand with her own.

"My parents… my father, more specifically, well he doesn't like anyone. He barely even likes me most of the time…"

"Tara, I'm sure that's not true. You're his daughter and he's lucky to have you. You're absolutely wonderful. I mean it," Willow said as she slowly reached her hand up to stroke the soft pale skin of Tara's cheek.

The blonde diverted her gaze downward and felt her cheeks flushing yet again.

"Pretty soon I'm just going to be permanently blushing around you," Tara mumbled.

"You're cute when you blush so that's okay," Willow smirked.

She wanted to lean forward and kiss Tara so badly, but she was scared. What if she had been interpreting things all wrong? What if the hand holding last night was simply two friends comforting each other? There were too many variables. Hell, she hardly even understood why she was having these feelings.

While Willow was weighing out the positives and negatives of kissing Tara, an awkward silence fell between them.

"I should get going…" Tara said softly after a few moments. "I'll definitely call tonight."

"I'll be looking forward to it," the redhead responded while walking Tara to the door. "Bye Tara."

"Goodbye!" The blonde called over her shoulder.

She sighed. This attraction to women had always existed for her, but she had never found a girl that she actually liked and wanted to be with. She wanted to be able to call herself Willow's girlfriend so badly, but at the same time she was scared out of her mind.

Willow jumped up the second the phone began to ring. She had been waiting anxiously for Tara's call all night.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hi Willow," Tara replied. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Happy to hear from you. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing exciting. I just did my chores and my homework. What about you? Wait, let me guess," she said, a half smile coming to her face. "You read all day."

"You know me so well already," Willow giggled.

"I'd like to get to know you even better," Tara said boldly.

By now Willow was grinning from ear to ear. Every time Tara said anything even remotely flirtatious to her she got crazy butterflies in her stomach.

"I wanna get to know you better too, Tara. The more I learn about you, the more I like you. You're incredible."

The blonde was blushing fiercely on the other end of the phone, unable to even form words at this point.

"Are you still there?" Willow asked after a few moments.

"Y-yeah, yeah I'm here," Tara confirmed. "I think you're incredible too. I love spending time with you and talking to you so much."

"I feel the same way. I really wanted to kiss you last night," the redhead blurted out, covering her mouth immediately afterward. "Oh my god. I can't believe I just said that."

Tara's heart practically leapt out of her chest. She hadn't been expecting that confession not to mention the fact that it made it increasingly difficult for her to hide from and deny her feelings for her new friend.

"Look Willow, I have to go… I'm really sorry," she said abruptly before clicking the phone off.

She put her face in her hands afterwards, feeling awful. She knew she shouldn't have hung up on Willow like she did, but she panicked. Facing her feelings head on like that had been terrifying.

Willow wasn't feeling much better. She was in tears not only because she felt rejected, but she also felt like she ruined the only friendship she'd had in a very long time. She knew her babbling would bite her in the ass one day.

"Do you want to watch TV for a little bit?" Willow's babysitter, Ingrid, asked when she walked in the room and saw how distraught the girl was.

Willow shook her head immediately and stood up.

"No, thank you. I'm just going to go to bed."

She quickly ran up the stairs and closed her door behind her. After changing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth she climbed into bed, holding her teddy bear very close to her.

She couldn't even remember the last time she felt this terrible. What if Tara never talked to her again? She couldn't blame her. She was probably disgusted.

"I'll miss her so much if she stops talking to me, Mr. Teddy," Willow whispered to her bear before shutting her eyes tightly and forcing herself to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Tara woke up still feeling awful about the way she had treated Willow on the phone the previous night. She knew she had to talk to Willow and somehow right her wrong, but that didn't change the fact that she was scared. Her guilty conscience was certainly outweighing her fear though.

The entire time she was at school, the blonde's thoughts were not focused on her studies but on Willow instead. She thought of all the ways she could go about apologizing and tried to plan out exactly what she wanted to say. Luckily she didn't get called on at all in her classes that day. By the time her last class rolled around all she wanted was to escape the confining walls of the school, which is exactly what she did. She left abruptly when the final bell rang and went straight to Willow's, hoping that she'd find the redhead there.

When she arrived at her friend's house, Tara nervously knocked on the front door and smiled politely when the babysitter, Ingrid, answered.

"Uhm, hello. Is Willow here?" She asked, peeking around to try and catch a glimpse of the girl.

"She's up in her room. Do you want me to go get her for you?"

Tara shook her head.

"No, that's alright. I can just show myself up there if that's okay with you."

"That should be fine," Ingrid said with a smile, not realizing the two girls weren't exactly on the best terms.

"Thank you," the blonde replied before hurrying up the stairs.

She lightly rapped on the door to Willow's room, not wanting to just barge in on her.

"Come in," the familiar voice called out.

Tara slowly opened the door and saw the redhead sitting on her bed, hugging her teddy bear to her chest. Her heart sunk immediately when she saw the girl's red-rimmed eyes. She knew it was because of her that Willow was crying. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around the girl and assure her that everything would be okay.

"Tara… What are you doing here?" She asked, clearly surprised to see her after how last night's phone call had gone.

"I feel awful about last night. I haven't been able to stop thinking about how much of a jerk I was," Tara confessed.

"You're not a jerk. I never should have blurted my feelings out like that. I made you uncomfortable… I feel like an idiot."

Tara sighed and sat down next to Willow on her bed.

"You're definitely not an idiot, Will. There's nothing wrong with blurting your feelings out. I actually admire you for that. It's hard for me to express my feelings sometimes because of how shy I am. I get really scared. And that's why I hung up last night. Not because you made me feel uncomfortable," she explained.

Willow slowly nodded her head as she processed the information.

"Okay, well you don't have to be scared with me. You can tell me exactly how you feel or don't feel and not have to worry. I don't want our friendship to be ruined just because I can't keep my mouth shut."

The blonde reached over and stroked the back of Willow's hand lightly with her thumb.

"I like you too, Willow. I like you a lot. That's what scares me so much. If my parents knew how I felt about you they'd disown me. They would never accept a relationship between the two of us..."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments after that, both girls unsure of what to say.

"I don't think my parents would approve very much either," Willow said finally, feeling the need to fill the silence. "What if we just keep our feelings between the two of us for now? I didn't even know I was attracted to girls until I met you. I need some time to just explore all of this without everyone in town knowing about it."

Tara nodded slowly. She never thought a secret relationship would be something she wanted, but it did seem like it was the best solution for right now. They just needed some time together without everyone's attention on them.

"I think that's best for now," she replied softly as she allowed her fingers to intertwine with Willow's.

The redhead's emerald eyes locked with the sapphire eyes of the blonde and they smiled at each other instinctively.

"So since we're in private right now, would it be okay for me to kiss you?" Willow asked nervously.

"I thought you'd never ask," Tara answered with a sly smile before beginning to lean in towards Willow.

The redhead closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against Tara's. Feeling the blonde's lips on hers just confirmed everything she'd already believed. Hesitantly she pulled back and allowed her forehead to rest against Tara's, both girls grinning from ear to ear.

"That felt really nice," Tara said breathlessly. "I don't know about you, but I'm glad you blurted out your feelings. It's feels really good to not have to hide how I feel about you anymore. And now I can feel free to do this anytime I want to."

She leaned in for a quick kiss and pulled away giggling.

"What's so funny?" Willow asked self-consciously.

"Nothing's funny sweetie," Tara assured her. "I just tend to get a little giggly when I'm happy."

"I make you happy?"

Tara nodded without hesitation.

"You make me so incredibly happy, Willow. Before I met you all I did was sit around my house getting yelled at by my father and made fun of by my brother. I never really had much to look forward to," she explained. "But then I met you and suddenly I did have something to look forward to. The time we've spent together means the world to me."

"I know what you mean. Before you, I didn't really have anyone. My parents barely even talk to me, let alone the kids at school. But you actually _like_ talking to me. You make me feel good about myself. Nothing else matters when I'm with you."

Tara was left speechless after that so she leaned forward and softly kissed the redhead square on the lips. Willow smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Tara's neck, deepening the kiss as she did so.

"Girls?" Ingrid's voice called from down the hall.

Immediately both girls broke away from the kiss and scooted away from each other, not wanting to get caught by the babysitter. She poked her head in the door, smiling when she saw them both just sitting there quietly.

"Just wanted to check on you. Things got pretty quiet up here. Want a snack or something?" She asked, oblivious to everything that had just happened between the girls.

They both just shook their heads and smiled politely at her until she went away.

"That was close," Willow said, breathing a sigh of relief when Ingrid left, closing the door behind her.

"We should probably start closing doors behind us when we know we're going to be kissing," Tara suggested. "Then we don't have to have a heart attack every time we hear someone approaching. We have to be careful if we really don't want people knowing about us yet."

"You're right," Willow agreed. "We'll be more careful from now on."

Tara glanced down at her watch and sighed when she saw it was nearing 6:30. She had to get home for dinner before her father threw a fit about it.

"Gotta get home, huh?" Willow asked, pouting slightly.

The blonde gave Willow one of her signature half-smiles before leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Don't pout at me," she told her girlfriend playfully. "I'll see you tomorrow, I promise."

Willow giggled and stood up so she'd be able to give Tara a proper goodbye hug. She kept her arms wrapped around the blonde a bit longer than she typically would, smiling to herself as she inhaled and caught a whiff of the sweet vanilla honey shampoo wafting from Tara's hair.

"Do I get a goodbye kiss?" The redhead asked once she finally pulled back from the hug.

"Of course you do. How could I not?" Tara replied before leaning in and quickly pressing their lips together. "And now I _really_ have to go, sweetie. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye Tara," Willow spoke softly, biting down on her lip gently as she watched her girlfriend leave.

She could still feel her lips tingling from that kiss and her entire body was just humming with happiness. Never in a million years did Willow think that she could feel _this_ happy all because of one person. One very special person.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Hey guys, I know there are a couple of you that are really enjoying the story and are constantly wanting more. I'm really glad to hear that! However, I'm really busy juggling school and all my activities so I know I definitely won't be updating regularly. Just know that I don't plan to abandon the story! Hope you enjoy this new chapter! :D

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><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

If Tara thought she had been distracted in school the previous day because of the fight she and Willow had, that was nothing compared to how distracted she was now that they had kissed. She couldn't stop replaying their kiss in her head during each of her class. Even in English class, which was usually her favorite, was not able to hold her attention today. Math was her final class of the day and she highly doubted she would be able to focus on it. She had never been very good at math or very interested it. She still tried her best though.

"What are _you_ so smiley about today?" Francine, the most popular and coincidentally the bitchiest girl in school, asked snarkily while they were waiting for class to begin.

Tara was suddenly pulled out of her daydream, startled when she noticed everyone's eyes on her. She wasn't used to being addressed at school. Or ever really. Usually she was able to simply blend into the background without a problem.

"O-oh, were you talking to m-m-me?" Tara asked meekly.

"Are you slow?" The girl retorted with a cruel cackle. "I said, what are you so smiley about today?"

Tara's face was flaming red at this point because she was so embarrassed. She didn't understand what she had done that made this girl want to be so mean to her.

"N-n-nothing really. I'm just in a good mood," the blonde answered with a shaky voice.

"I bet you'd be even happier if you got rid of that ridiculous stutter."

Tara felt her bottom lip start to quiver. She could hear the laughter of all of her classmates ringing in her ears. More than anything she wanted to burst into tears, but she wasn't going to do that in front of the entire class and give them even more reason to laugh at her. She tried her best to hold it in and luckily her math teacher walked in a few moments later to begin class, taking the attention off of her.

The blonde tried to return to her pleasant thoughts of the kisses she and Willow had shared less than 24 hours ago, but it was hard when all she wanted to do was let her tears out. She definitely didn't hear a single word her math teacher said the entire class period and as soon as the final bell rang she darted out of that room before anyone had a chance to taunt her even more.

Once she was a few yards away from the school, she finally allowed her tears to fall. She was used to being treated that way at home, but she couldn't handle it at school as well. It was too much. She cried her entire walk home but made sure to wipe her eyes dry before going inside her house. If her father saw her crying he would just yell at her and tell her to stop being so weak.

She breathed a sigh of relief when it was her mother who greeted her rather than her father. She was in the kitchen starting dinner.

"Hi sweetheart. How was school?" Julie Maclay asked with a smile.

"It was fine," Tara responded softly, hoping to avoid any further questions. She really didn't want to get into the whole thing about her classmates teasing her. "Would it be okay if I went to my friend Willow's house until it's time for dinner?"

"Of course. Just make sure you're at the table at 6:30 sharp, honey. You know how your father gets sometimes."

Tara nodded and leaned forward to give her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Mom. See you for dinner."

The blonde threw her bag over her shoulder and began on the familiar path to Willow's house. Before she knew it she was at the redhead's doorstep. She absolutely couldn't wait to see her again, especially after the day she'd had.

Ingrid, the babysitter, answered the door as usual and gave Tara a friendly smile before letting her in.

"Willow's up in her room as usual. Go ahead up."

Tara quickly scurried up the steps, rapping lightly on her girlfriend's bedroom door.

"Come in," Willow called out, her face brightening when Tara walked into the room. She immediately hopped off her bed and skipped over to Tara. "Hey you," she said before she pulled the girl into her arms, hugging her close. "I didn't know you were coming over. It's a nice surprise though."

"I just really needed to see you," Tara said almost in a whisper, gently pulling back from the hug to look into Willow's emerald green eyes.

Willow frowned once she got the chance to really look at her girlfriend. She could sense that something was wrong. Her eyes were a tad bit puffy and red-rimmed. The eyes that were usually sparkling were filled with sadness.

"Is everything okay? What happened?" She asked, reaching her hand up to stroke the soft skin on Tara's cheek.

Tara just closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying Willow's touch, but when she opened her eyes she was prepared to tell the redhead all about how her day had taken a turn for the worse.

"I'm just upset about something that happened at school today. I was sort of daydreaming and I guess I was smiling about it. So this really popular girl in my class, Francine, started teasing me. Then my stutter started coming out and everyone was watching and laughing at me. It was horrible, Will. I wanted to burst into tears right then and there but I made myself hold it in until the bell rang. I was so embarrassed."

Willow gave Tara a sympathetic look before pulling her into another embrace. She soothingly ran her fingers through the girl's blonde hair, wanting to make all of her pain go away.

"It's okay, Tare-bear. That girl's stupid. Just think, in 10 years most of the popular girls in high school will be unhappy with their lives and you're going to be wildly successful. You'll come out on top."

Tara shook her head.

"You don't know that. Francine could become a millionaire and be completely happy. Besides, I'm not even going to be successful. My father certainly doesn't think so…"

Willow stepped out of the embrace before cupping Tara's face between her hands.

"Listen to me, I don't care what Francine says or what your father says. You're wonderful. You're beautiful inside and out, Tara. Once high school is over I know that you'll be successful and happy," Willow assured her. "You just have to get through high school. We both do. We've only got to get through the next week or so before summer vacation and then we'll be seniors! One more year of dealing with those bitchy, popular girls."

Tara's frown had evolved into a smile by the end of Willow's speech. She knew her girlfriend would be able to cheer her up. Not only was she sufficiently cheered up, but there were also butterflies swarming her stomach after hearing all those compliments.

"You just made me feel about a million times better in only a few minutes," Tara told Willow before allowing her head to rest on her shoulder. "How do you do that?"

"Magic," Willow answered simply. "So, what were you day dreaming about anyway?"

Tara's cheeks flushed a bright pink, not wanting to admit to having Willow on the brain all day long.

"N-n-nothing…." She stuttered, her pink cheeks only getting pinker.

The redhead smiled knowingly and leaned in to place a gentle kiss on the center of her girlfriend's forehead before hugging her and placing her lips against Tara's ear.

"It's okay. I know you couldn't stop thinking about me," she whispered flirtatiously. "I couldn't stop thinking about you either."

A lopsided grin formed on the blonde's face when she heard that.

"Oh really? What were you thinking about exactly?"

"Well, let me just show you," Willow replied with a smirk, crashing their lips together.


End file.
